Putting on continuing legal education courses that showcase junior associates and allowing for different clients to network with each other can give women- and minority-owned law firms an advantage in competing for business, in-house attorneys said at the 2020 Women-Owned Law Symposium in Philadelphia on Wednesday.

Competing for the business of in-house counsel can be challenging and many smaller firm owners are not sure where to begin, Lisa Love said in the "Best Practices for Partnering with Corporations and Big Law" session at Drexel University's Thomas R. Kline School of Law's Institute of Trial Advocacy.

Anne Bancroft, associate general counsel at Exelon Business Services Co. in Pennington, New Jersey, said one of the firms Exelon is looking to partner with in the future puts on a CLE every year in which clients get to meet each other. Last year she was invited and was so impressed that she now has it on her calendar for this year and invited her deputy general counsel and others in the legal department.

"You have networks that other clients are going to be interested in as well," Bancroft told the crowd.

Barbara Stevens, vice president and corporate counsel at Prudential Financial Inc. in New York, added that smaller firms putting on CLEs should find ways to make their CLEs specifically relevant to the companies they invite.

"Talk to the lawyers in-house and see what they want to know about," Stevens said. "Find out a little bit about the company so that you can make your presentations with facts relevant to them."

Stevens also said the women-owned firms that she works with at Prudential have junior associates play a small part in CLE presentations. She said in-house counsel want to see how younger law firm attorneys will grow into the partners they may work with in the future.

Speaking for their own legal departments, Stevens and Bancroft said in-house counsel are becoming more eager to partner with firms owned by diverse attorneys. Bancroft said one way Exelon looks for women- and minority-owned firms is by bringing them in person to bid on litigation alongside large law firms.

"We use it as an opportunity to include minority- or women-owned firms in that bid to give them exposure to our business," Bancroft explained. "We'll talk to them about the case and see how they can compete as far as strategy and fee arrangements that they offer."

At Prudential, Stevens said, it is a mandate to use diverse-owned firms.

"This has gone beyond the conversation of it's the right thing to do. It makes good business sense," Stevens said.

She said a number of studies show diverse in-house or law firm teams drive better results. She explained that when she goes to hire a minority- or women-owned law firm she is just not interested in getting a diversity credit.

"I'm talking about high-quality, smart lawyers who deliver results," Stevens said.